For years, New Jersey-based SUN Behavioral Health utilized paper records to manage patient and financial documentation. This meant that only one person had access to those records at a time, and the records were quickly outdated. With no real-time alerts or checks available to support clinicians, providing safe and efficient care became a burden.
To solve these issues, SUN turned to WellSky. That strategic decision allowed the provider to enhance operational efficiency and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
SUN initially adopted the WellSky Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) solution for behavioral health and quickly recognized the additional need for an integrated electronic health record (EHR) and began implementing WellSky Specialty Care for Behavioral Health as their EHR.
In all, SUN uses four WellSky solutions and services:
- WellSky Specialty Care for Behavioral Health
- WellSky Communication Hub
- WellSky Data Access
- WellSky Managed Services
“One of the biggest advantages of our partnership is that the WellSky team is able to really listen to what we need, from a behavioral health perspective and a regulatory perspective, and help us look at solutions on how we can incorporate that into our record,” says Tonya St. Clair, Senior VP, Clinical Services and Development at SUN. “And I think that’s been a valuable part of our relationship.”
The three big benefits that SUN gains from WellSky
A comprehensive behavioral health provider with a mission to partner with communities to solve the unmet needs of those who suffer from mental illness and substance use disorders, SUN has facilities in Ohio, Delaware, Kentucky and Texas, providing essential psychiatric services to diverse populations.
They selected WellSky because they wanted an RCM and an EHR solution that would streamline operations, enhance compliance and be easy to use for clinicians on the floor. The benefits have been massive.
- Operational efficiency and compliance
The ability to generate detailed reports has been transformative for SUN, providing insights and documentation that support compliance and operational efficiency. SUN also values smooth transitions of care for patients and for staff, and relies on easily accessible and up-to-date patient data in WellSky.
“One of the things that WellSky helps us do is assess the social determinants of health and make sure that we’re following up with our patients and letting that information flow through, so it helps anticipate what the patient’s needs are at discharge,” St. Clair says.
The integration of the WellSky RCM and EHR has also allowed SUN to automate charge generation, reducing the need for manual tracking and improving financial accuracy and efficiency. Having WellSky as their RCM and EHR provider allows them to seamlessly share data between the two modules, running custom or pre-built reports on what they need to see, when they need to see it.
- Clinical improvements
SUN relies on the integration between WellSky Specialty Care and DrFirst to enable effective medication reconciliation, which reduces the risk of non-compliance — a significant factor in patient readmissions. By having visibility into patients’ prescriptions at the pharmacy, connecting patients’ care teams, and having access to an easy order entry process, SUN is able to help ensure patient safety.
Additional clinical improvements come from housing all patient information in a single system, thus streamlining the process of transitioning patients from inpatient to outpatient care, saving time and improving continuity of care. Having a summary of clinical documentation that’s easy to access has made a big impact on saving clinicians time.
“We just have to click on the patient summary page, and all of a patient’s information from a recent hospital stay, or partial stay, is there,” says Kim Carrico, SUN VP Information Systems and Services. “Having to just make one click instead of having to go through all of the categories on a summary page has been a huge game changer for us.”
- Maximized investments
SUN leverages WellSky Managed Services to expand their team’s proficiency with the EHR and resolve issues efficiently. The partnership has been instrumental in optimizing the use of the EHR system.
“Having calls with the managed services team to fill in the gaps when we need help has been beneficial. It’s been helpful for our team to expand our knowledge base with WellSky when we have questions,” Carrico says. “We work very closely with the WellSky support teams to solve any issues we run into, and to understand any enhancements made to the solution. They’re professional and positive and do everything they can to assist us.”
A lasting partnership
SUN Behavioral Health’s partnership with WellSky has significantly improved their operational and clinical processes. The comprehensive EHR and RCM integration, enhanced reporting capabilities, and ease of use help them ensure streamlined operations, patient safety and high-quality care.
“I really appreciate having a designated client success manager,” Carrico says. “I feel like we are truly heard and have a resource for someone to help me escalate issues or get more information when we need it.”
This Views article is sponsored by WellSky. To learn more about how WellSky Specialty Care for Behavioral Health can help your team, visit wellsky.com/behavioral-health-software and schedule a free consultation.
